Antonio Gramsci

"“The point of modernity is to live a life without illusions while not becoming disillusioned”"

"My practicality consists in this, in the knowledge that if you beat your head against the wall it is your head which breaks and not the wall - that is my strength, my only strength."

"I'm a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will."

"The popular element "feels" but does not always know or understand; the intellectual element "knows" but does not always understand and in particular does not always feel."

"At the limit it could be said that every speaking being has a personal language of his own, that is his own particular way of thinking and feeling. Culture, at its various levels, unifies in a series of strata, to the extent that they come into contact with each other, a greater or lesser number of individuals who understand each other's mode of expression to varying degrees, etc."

"I live, I am partisan. This is why I hate those who do not take sides; I hate those who are indifferent"

"Is it better to work out consciously and critically one's own conception of the world and thus, in connection with the labours of one's own brain, choose one's sphere of activity, take an active part in the creation of the history of the world, be one's own guide, refusing to accept passively and supinely from outside the moulding of one' own personality?"

"The point of modernity is to live a life without illusions while not becoming disillusioned"